Anchor
by PaBurke
Summary: It's a matter of priorities. Buffy/Marvel comics
1. Chapter 1

Anchor

By PaBurke

Pairing # Joyce Summers / Nick Fury (Agent of SHIELD)

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, no money made, no copyright infringement intended.

Spoilers: Season Five of Buffy

Word Count: 500

She was sitting on his bed when he dragged himself home. Beautiful. Forlorn. The one and only person in his life that was not involved in SHIELD.

He had met her on accident. He had asked her out on a whim. He had fallen into her bed for solace. He had left her sleeping for duty.

He had called her up and asked her out a second time for the peace of her presence.

He had asked her out the third time because the first two times had been that good. He had sworn off her then.

He had asked her out the fourth time because he had watched Sabertooth rip three of his agents limb from limb.

He had given her the keys to his LA apartment because he needed her.

He had known that it would never last. It couldn't last. She didn't know what he did when they were apart. He couldn't tell her what he did for a living. He couldn't tell her that he knew more about her than she did. He couldn't tell her that he had protected her daughter the only way he knew how. He couldn't tell her that his protection had not been enough.

Now, Nick Fury knew that this was the end.

"Am I your mistress?" Joyce finally asked.

Nick was surprised by the question. "No." Technically that was the truth. "There is no other woman."

Joyce tilted her head and watched him for signs of lying. She wouldn't find any; he was too well trained. But some people had an instinct that they didn't ignore. "But?"

Fury put his keys on his dresser. "Work." She deserved as honest an answer as he could offer.

"Who do you fight, Brian?"

Part of him winced. Why had he given her that name? Oh yeah, because he had thought that it would only be a one-time deal. "Fight?" He had told her that he was a military consultant. Consultants, most consultants don't fight.

"Brian, look at me." Nick did. She eyed him. What did she see? "I know you fight something, someone. Whose side are you on?"

Fool me twice. The mother of the Slayer had seen all the signs in him. She had seen them before. Nick sat down beside the woman he… had a relationship with. "I'm on the right side, Joyce."

"Who do you fight, Brian?"

To answer, or to not answer? To tell the truth or not? Would she keep coming back if she knew the truth? "Mutants."

She paused. Fearful. He realized that many would consider her daughter a mutant. He realized that in a competition between him and her daughter, her daughter would always win. "I've made sure that we'll never touch her," he said. Had he said too much?

She nodded slowly. Still fearful. She stood. "I need to think."

He nodded. He had expected it.

She stepped close and kissed his cheek.

She left.

Had he just sliced the rope to his only anchor?


	2. Anchor II

Anchor II

By PaBurke

Pairing # Buffy Summers / Nick Fury (Agent of SHIELD)

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, no money made, no copyright infringement intended.

Spoilers: Season Seven of Buffy, the first Anchor FFA

Word Count: 500

He saw her sitting on his bed. He stopped. He was surprised and stunned. It was an odd moment. The last person who had been in this apartment, had sat there. Her mother had sat there. It had been years.

Why was she sitting there, in the exact same spot?

The photo from his dresser was in her lap. The light yellow sweater from his closet lay beside her. Those were his only possessions from that stolen time.

He knew that the Slayer wasn't as dumb as she pretended to be, but would she see all the implications? He hoped not.

"You were Brian," she said softly.

"Yes."

"Did you ever tell her your real name?"

"No." He never had the chance. He had left for an emergency, a mutant standoff, and Joyce had been dead of brain cancer before he had returned. He was too professional for 'what ifs.'

"You made her spin in new dresses and giggle."

Nick Fury felt ridiculously proud of the accomplishment. Being one of the most powerful people on the planet only left one marginally satisfied at the end of the day.

She finally tore her gaze away from the picture of her mother and looked at him. What did this Summers woman see?

"Are you going to give Dana back?" She finally got down to business.

Nick considered it. The Council had been very careful and Dana's escape from their custody had been sheer hap-chance. SHIELD had picked up the criminally insane Slayer. The Council was unlikely to let it happen again. Did he want to upset the Council? Did he want to upset this Slayer? There were several security devices within this apartment that would give him a decided edge in a fight, but did he want to upset this Daughter?

"Yes," he said.

Buffy nodded. "Good. I'd hate to have to beat up another of Mom's boyfriends." She brushed her fingers across the face of her mother one last time before setting the picture aside. She stood and walked to the door. "She was my anchor too," she said. Then the Oldest Slayer left.

How had she found this place? Probably the Witch. Would he move? Did he want to leave the memories, the nick-knacks, the smell of Joyce behind for a more secure location? No. Would he? Probably.

He picked up the sweater and hung it up in the closet. He picked up the picture and put in its spot on his dresser. The frame had anchors on it. It had been a sentimental whim when he had bought it. He could not afford sentimental whims in his line of work. He brushed the dust of the picture. He brushed dust off the memory. He remembered the sun, the laughter in her eyes, the cotton of her sundress.

It was time to move. To move on. He would.

First he had a call to make to SHIELD HQ. The Slayer was her mother's daughter and he would keep his word.


	3. Anchor III

Anchor III

By PaBurke

Pairing # Dawn Summers / Nick Fury (Agent of SHIELD)

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, no money made, no copyright infringement intended.

Spoilers: Season Seven of Buffy, the first two Anchor FFA's

Warnings: Character Death, depressing.

Word Count: 400

Dawn was in a daze.

The Council was gone. Her family was gone, all gone.

All dead.

And nobody was coming back.

Someone bandaged her head. Another stranger put a cast on her broken arm. She didn't know where she was. She didn't care.

She felt the pinprick of a needle and jerked. Someone took the needle out before it drew blood. Dawn caught the flash of an eye-patch and looked up hopefully.

It wasn't Xander.

He was older. He was military. "No," he said curtly.

"Sir?" the medical technician was confused.

He cursed and the technician quit arguing and went away. He stood close and looked at her. Dawn barely noticed.

"Come," he ordered.

Dawn didn't hear him.

"My name is Nick Fury," he had tried to soften his tone slightly. It was still so hard. He wasn't like Xander at all.

Her head flew up and she stared at this stranger.

"Come," he ordered again.

This time she followed. Her hand reached out and grabbed the back of his BDU's. Riley had taught her that term. Was Riley dead too? She held on so tight that her knuckles turned white. He led her through the strange place. Everyone was in uniform. Everyone stared at her.

She didn't see it. She didn't see anything but dead, bloody faces.

Broken bodies.

He stopped, so she stopped. He reached behind his back and took her hand. He guided her to a chair. "Sit."

Dawn stared at him blankly. He gently but sternly forced her to sit. He drove the vehicle, a hovercraft. Dawn's eyes were open but she didn't see anything. Finally he was standing beside her again. He didn't order her this time. He picked her up and carried her. She didn't help him.

He set her down on a bed. He pulled off her shoes and socks. He took off her jacket. He pushed her until she was horizontal. He put something in her arms. Dawn buried her nose in it.

Mom.

Dawn started crying. He handed her a picture that she couldn't see through her tears. He sat beside her with a hand on her shoulder as she cried and cried. She fell asleep knowing that she was safe. Even after their deaths, Mom and Buffy had found a way to keep her safe. She had an anchor in this hurricane.

Nick Fury kept watch all night long.


End file.
